Robert J. Sawyer

Author profile

born

April 29, 1960 in Ottawa, Canada

gender

male

website

http://www.sfwriter.com/index.htm

genre

Science Fiction & Fantasy, Mystery & Thrillers

About this author

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Robert J. Sawyer is one of Canada's best known and most successful science fiction writers. He is the only Canadian (and one of only 7 writers in the world) to have won all three of the top international awards for science fiction: the 1995 Nebula Award for The Terminal Experiment, the 2003 Hugo Award for Hominids, and the 2006 John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Mindscan.
Robert Sawyer grew up in Toronto, the son of two university professors. He credits two of his favourite shows from the late 1960s and early 1970s, Search and Star Trek, with teaching him some of the fundamentals of the science-fiction craft. Sawyer was obsessed with outer space from a young age, and he vividly remembers watching the televised Apollo missions. He claims to...more Robert J. Sawyer is one of Canada's best known and most successful science fiction writers. He is the only Canadian (and one of only 7 writers in the world) to have won all three of the top international awards for science fiction: the 1995 Nebula Award for The Terminal Experiment, the 2003 Hugo Award for Hominids, and the 2006 John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Mindscan.
Robert Sawyer grew up in Toronto, the son of two university professors. He credits two of his favourite shows from the late 1960s and early 1970s, Search and Star Trek, with teaching him some of the fundamentals of the science-fiction craft. Sawyer was obsessed with outer space from a young age, and he vividly remembers watching the televised Apollo missions. He claims to have watched the 1968 classic film 2001: A Space Odyssey 25 times. He began writing science fiction in a high school club, which he co-founded, NASFA (Northview Academy Association of Science Fiction Addicts). Sawyer graduated in 1982 from the Radio and Television Arts Program at Ryerson University, where he later worked as an instructor.

Sawyer's first published book, Golden Fleece (1989), is an adaptation of short stories that had previously appeared in the science-fiction magazine Amazing Stories. This book won the Aurora Award for the best Canadian science-fiction novel in English. In the early 1990s Sawyer went on to publish his inventive Quintaglio Ascension trilogy, about a world of intelligent dinosaurs. His 1995 award winning The Terminal Experiment confirmed his place as a major international science-fiction writer.

A prolific writer, Sawyer has published more than 10 novels, plus two trilogies. Reviewers praise Sawyer for his concise prose, which has been compared to that of the science-fiction master Isaac Asimov. Like many science fiction-writers, Sawyer welcomes the opportunities his chosen genre provides for exploring ideas. The first book of his Neanderthal Parallax trilogy, Hominids (2002), is set in a near-future society, in which a quantum computing experiment brings a Neanderthal scientist from a parallel Earth to ours. His 2006 Mindscan explores the possibility of transferring human consciousness into a mechanical body, and the ensuing ethical, legal, and societal ramifications.

A passionate advocate for science fiction, Sawyer teaches creative writing and appears frequently in the media to discuss his genre. He prefers the label "philosophical fiction," and in no way sees himself as a predictor of the future. His mission statement for his writing is "To combine the intimately human with the grandly cosmic."

http://us.macmillan.com/author/robert...(less)

679 posts
Robert J. Sawyer's Blog

Robert J. Sawyer isn't a Goodreads Author (yet), but he does have a blog, so here are some recent posts imported from his feed.

Financial Times loves Triggers

Financial Times — The Financial Times of London, one of the most-read newspapers in the world — just reviewed my novel Triggers. It’s a short but sweet review, but wonderfully quotable:

“It’s a national security nightmare — someone has access to the secrets lodged in the brain of the most powerful man in the world. There’s lots of fascinating stuff here about how human memory works, and Sawyer...

View more on Robert J. Sawyer's website »

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Published on May 25, 2012 13:01 • 8 views

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combine editions
Books by Robert J. Sawyer

Average rating: 3.74 · 23,763 ratings · 2,799 reviews · 73 distinct works

	Flashforward 3.49 avg rating — 4,080 ratings — published 1999 — 30 editions	My rating:
	Hominids (Neanderthal Parallax, #1) 3.73 avg rating — 2,660 ratings — published 2002 — 14 editions	My rating:
	Calculating God 3.80 avg rating — 2,042 ratings — published 2000 — 12 editions	My rating:
	WWW: Wake (WWW, #1) 3.77 avg rating — 2,090 ratings — published 2009 — 17 editions	My rating:
	Humans (Neanderthal Parallax, #2) 3.73 avg rating — 1,474 ratings — published 2003 — 12 editions	My rating:
	Hybrids (Neanderthal Parallax, #3) 3.72 avg rating — 1,262 ratings — published 2004 — 9 editions	My rating:
	WWW: Watch (WWW, #2) 4.00 avg rating — 1,156 ratings — published 2010 — 16 editions	My rating:
	Rollback 3.63 avg rating — 1,098 ratings — published 2007 — 9 editions	My rating:
	The Terminal Experiment 3.66 avg rating — 800 ratings — published 1995 — 13 editions	My rating:
	WWW: Wonder (WWW, #3) 3.92 avg rating — 774 ratings — published 2011 — 15 editions	My rating:

More books by Robert J. Sawyer…

Series by Robert J. Sawyer

Neanderthal Parallax (3 books)
by Robert J. Sawyer

3.73 avg rating — 5,395 ratings

WWW (3 books)
by Robert J. Sawyer

3.87 avg rating — 4,014 ratings

Quintaglio Ascension (3 books)
by Robert J. Sawyer

4.00 avg rating — 651 ratings

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Quotes by Robert J. Sawyer

“Learning to ignore things is one of the great paths to inner peace.”
― Robert J. Sawyer, Calculating God

2,017 people liked it

“There is no indisputable proof for the big bang," said Hollus. "And there is none for evolution. And yet you accept those. Why hold the question of whether there is a creator to a higher standard?”
― Robert J. Sawyer, Calculating God

tags: atheism , big-bang , darwinism , double-standards , id , intelligent-design , macro-evolution , macroevolution , materialism , naturalism , religious-science-fiction , science , theism , theistic-science-fiction

10 people liked it

“Naturally, one does not normally discuss plans to commit murder with the intended victim.”
― Robert J. Sawyer, Flashforward

tags: future , killers , murder

10 people liked it

See all Robert J. Sawyer's quotes »

Polls

January Science Fiction: This poll determines which 2 novels will move on to the run-off poll for January 2010 SF Book of the Month!

Anathem by Neal Stephenson

9 votes 22.0%

On Basilisk Station by David Weber

8 votes 19.5%

Hominids by Robert J. Sawyer

6 votes 14.6%

Darwinia A Novel of a Very Different Twentieth Century by Robert Charles Wilson

5 votes 12.2%

Endless Blue by Wen Spencer

4 votes 9.8%

Chess With a Dragon by David Gerrold

2 votes 4.9%

Jerusalem Fire by R.M. Meluch

2 votes 4.9%

The Inverted World A Novel by Christopher Priest

2 votes 4.9%

The Ghost Brigades by John Scalzi

2 votes 4.9%

Dragon's Egg by Robert L. Forward

1 vote 2.4%

41 total votes

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The Alternative W...: New Book Shelf - Hard SF	40	26	Apr 21, 2009 11:39pm
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The Seasonal Read...: 10.8 (OH CANADA!)	37	183	Dec 21, 2009 02:06pm
Challenge: 50 Books: Leighann's 50 books in 09	89	248	Dec 30, 2009 01:22pm
Challenge: 50 Books: Barb's 50 books for 2009	80	433	Dec 31, 2009 06:37am

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Robert J. Sawyer

Author profile

679 postsRobert J. Sawyer's Blog

combine editionsBooks by Robert J. Sawyer

Series by Robert J. Sawyer

Upcoming Events

Quotes by Robert J. Sawyer

Polls

Topics Mentioning This Author

679 posts
Robert J. Sawyer's Blog

combine editions
Books by Robert J. Sawyer